The Princess Theatre opened in 1911 on NW 6th Avenue (one half-block north of West Burnside) in downtown Portland.

Portland’s street numbering changed in 1933.

The Princess was renamed the Star Theatre in 1939. Over the years the theatre has been known by variant names such as the Four-Star Theatre, the New Star Theatre and the Star Burlesek Theatre. Candy Renee acquired the theatre in 1953 and operated it as a strip venue but lost it in March 1954 when she was arrested on drug and weapons charges. Subsequently, John Tidyman acquired the theatre at some time in the 1970s and presented an odd assortment of pornographic and hard-to-see classic films (for instance, Harry Nilsson’s The Point was one of the films shown during that time).

Through multiple latter-day owners, which have included director Gus Van Sant and restauranteur Andrew Sugar, the theatre still had the Star signage and marquee mounted on the building which were refurbished in 2001. The theatre is still in operation as the Star today under the ownership of Frank Falliance.

References: Oregon Encyclopedia website; Website-Wikipedia.